Georgia, Alabama on top of the first CFP rankings
Georgia, Alabama, Michigan State and Oregon were the top four teams Tuesday night in the first College Football Playoff rankings of the season with Ohio State and Cincinnati up next.
At sixth, the unbeaten Bearcats have the best ranking ever in the selection committee’s Top 25 for a team from outside the Power Five conferences, but still sit behind three teams (Alabama, Oregon and Ohio State) that have already been beaten.
Committee chairman Gary Barta, who is also Iowa’s athletic director, said the committee was impressed with Cincinnati’s victory at 10th-ranked Notre Dame (7-1), but not so much by the rest of the Bearcats’ schedule.
He cited closer-than-expected wins against Navy (2-6) and Tulane (1-7) over the past two weeks.
Michigan (7-1), Oklahoma (9-0), Wake Forest (8-0) and Notre Dame rounded out the top 10.
Only once in the seven-year history of the CFP have the four teams in the committee’s initial ranking made the final four. That was last season.
This season, Georgia (8-0) was an obvious No. 1. Barta said Alabama (7-1) was a comfortable No. 2 for the 13-member panel, despite the Crimson Tide’s close loss at Texas A&M.
Oregon got the nod over Ohio State for the fourth spot by virtue of beating the Buckeyes on the road in the second week of the season.
Cincinnati set the previous high ranking from a team from the socalled Group of Five conferences last season at No. 7, but the Bearcats never moved up. In fact, they were passed while completing an unbeaten regular season and were eighth in the final
rankings that set the playoff field.
The committee had a similar critique of Oklahoma and Wake Forest as it did Cincinnati, dinging the Sooners and Demon Deacons for a lack of a “signature” victory and some close games against teams with losing records.
The final rankings of this season will come Dec. 5, the day after conference championships are played. HELTON HIRED AT GEORGIA SOUTHERN >> Georgia Southern hired former USC coach Clay Helton, seven weeks after USC fired him. Helton was the first coach fired this season, and was two games into his eighth season at USC. The 49-year-old was 46-24 with the Trojans, including a Rose Bowl victory after the 2016 season and a Pac-12 title in 2017.
Georgia Southern fired coach Chad Lunsford after a 1-3 start to the season. The Eagles (2-6, 1-4 Sun Belt) are last in the Sun Belt’s East Division heading into Saturday’s game against No. 21 Coastal Carolina.
Soccer
FORMER FIFA OFFICIALS CHARGED WITH FRAUD >> Former FIFA officials Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini were charged with fraud and other offenses by Swiss prosecutors after a six-year investigation into a controversial $2 million payment.
The 85-year-old Blatter and 66-year-old Platini now face a trial at federal criminal court in Bellinzona. They could be jailed for several years if found guilty, though Swiss cases often take years to reach a conclusion.
The case was opened in September 2015 and ousted Blatter ahead of schedule as FIFA president. It also ended Platini’s campaign to succeed his former mentor.
Both Blatter and Platini have long denied wrongdoing and cited a verbal agreement they had made, now more than 20 years ago, for the money to be paid.
Blatter has been charged with fraud, mismanagement, misappropriation of FIFA funds and forgery of a document. Platini has been charged with fraud, misappropriation, forgery and as an accomplice to Blatter’s alleged mismanagement.
Fraud and forgery charges can be punished with jail sentences of up to five years.
MLB
DIAMONDBACKS NAME BANISTER COACH >> The Arizona Diamondbacks hired Jeff Banister as the bench coach for manager Torey Lovullo.
The 57-year-old Banister managed the Texas Rangers from 2015-18 and had a 325-313 record while winning the AL West twice.
Banister’s hiring comes as Lovullo overhauls his coaching staff following a 52-110 season that marked the second-worst record in franchise history. Banister replaces Luis Urueta, who is still with the Diamondbacks but will have a new role.